Experiences related to grief and death from the perspective of nurses caring for individuals approaching the end of life: A qualitative study

INTRODUCTION: It is known that it is important to determine the needs of individuals and their life experiences to improve the quality of respected care for individuals with life-threatening illnesses. This qualitative study aimed to identify ex-periences related to grief and death from the perspective of nurses caring for individuals approaching the end of life.
METHODS: This study is based on a qualitative research design. The sample of the study consisted of 15 nurses working in the palliative care and intensive care clinics of a training and research hospital in the Central Anatolia Region, caring for terminally ill individuals. The findings of the study were collected through semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews with audio recordings. The findings were analyzed thematically using the N-Vivo12 program.
RESULTS: The average age of the nurses who participated in this study was 35 years. As a result of this study, four main themes and 13 subthemes emerged. Main theme I: End-of-life care needs (Subthemes: Support systems, preference for place of death, information, and spiritual needs); Main theme II: Reactions to death (Subthemes: Denial, anger, blame, and acceptance); Main theme III: Difficulties experienced in nursing care (Subthemes: Continuous requesting individual, difficulties in talking about death, and difficulties created by the nurse’s death anxiety); Main theme IV: Facilitators in nursing care (Subthemes: Therapeutic communication and acceptance of death).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This qualitative study is thought to contribute to nurses’ understanding of grief and bereavement experiences so that individuals can receive dignified and quality care at the end of life.